The Best Chocolate and Beetroot Cake: Very Easy + Very Moist

This easy chocolate and beetroot cake has really stood the test of time in our family. It is rich and indulgent but has a dose of vegetables in each slice, what’s not to love?

The recipe is super easy too and that’s important as we just don’t have time to be peeling and steaming our beetroot for a cake. The tinned version does really well in this recipe.

And here’s the same cake for his fifth birthday too!

This is a very moist cake, which is one of many reasons that I really adore it. It has never come out at all dry, yet it’s never soggy either. It does rise quite a lot int he middle so, if I remember, I tend to pour the batter into the tin and then smooth it out not quite flat, but rather with a bit of a lower section in the middle.

I do not make this cake in the Thermomix as it’s very simple to make it and I usually make a double batch, which would be far too much to fit in the Thermie.

NB: Find more great Cakes To Make On Rainy Days here.

  • 3 eggs
  • 450g can of whole baby beetroot
  • 50g (0.5 cup) cocoa
  • 200g (1.5 cups) self-raising flour
  • 200g (1 cup) caster sugar
  • 125g unsalted butter
  • 100g dark chocolate
  1. Heat oven to 180° C.
  2. Drain beetroot and then blend with the eggs until very smooth.
  3. Melt the chocolate and butter together. I use the microwave, starting off with one minute and then zapping for 10 seconds at a time further. You can also gently heat the chocolate and butter in a pan.
  4. Sift flour then mix in with cocoa and sugar.
  5. Mix all the ingredients together until combined.
  6. Use one 23cm diameter baking tin or two 20cm baking tins… or make cupcakes.
  7. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes depending on pan, less for cupcakes.

For a really big chocolate cake for birthdays, I often double this quantity and make 2 x 23cm diameter round cakes which I then ice together.

I have been using wholewheat flour when I am making this cake for not-so-special occasions eg using it to make cupcakes for the kids’ lunchboxes. You just need to use 10g less flour and let it stand for 10 minutes before baking. But for birthday cakes, I do use white flour.

I ice this cake with a frosting made by melting dark chocolate very gently with sour cream. I usually use equal quantities of each i.e 50g of dark chocolate and 50g of sour cream. But you can use any icing or frosting.

I prepare the wet ingredients first, they do not take long at all All ready to mix up The mixture comes together quickly and is very dense

We have used this recipe to make a dozen birthday cakes or more over our many years of family life. And now the children know how to make and bake this cake all by themselves. They will be making chocolate and beetroot cakes for their own kids some day.

Happy 12th birthday! I cannot remember which child had this cake on their 12th birthday. A junior footballers birthday cake – with beetroot! The latest birthday cake! For my son’s 14th birthday, my girl twin helped make it for her brother You can pin this picture for later!

Have you ever tried making a chocolate beetroot cake?

 Do you have a never-fail birthday cake recipe??

Delicious every time

To find more family-friendly recipes that my family love, just click here.